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大仙囑童
The Immortal’s Charge
當日鎮元大仙得元始天尊的簡帖，邀他到上清天彌羅宮中聽講「混元道果」。大仙門下出的散仙，也不計其數，見如今還有四十八個徒弟，都是得道的全真。當日帶領四十六個上界去聽講，留下兩個絕小的看家：一個喚做清風，一個喚做明月。清風只有一千三百二十歲，明月才交一千二百歲。鎮元子吩咐二童道：「不可違了大天尊的簡帖，要往彌羅宮聽講，你兩個在家仔細。不日有一個故人從此經過，卻莫怠慢了他。可將我人參果打兩個與他吃，權表舊日之情。」当日镇元大仙得元始天尊的简帖，邀他到上清天弥罗宫中听讲「混元道果」。大仙门下出的散仙，也不计其数，见如今还有四十八个徒弟，都是得道的全真。当日带领四十六个上界去听讲，留下两个绝小的看家：一个唤做清风，一个唤做明月。清风只有一千三百二十岁，明月才交一千二百岁。镇元子吩咐二童道：「不可违了大天尊的简帖，要往弥罗宫听讲，你两个在家仔细。不日有一个故人从此经过，却莫怠慢了他。可将我人参果打两个与他吃，权表旧日之情。」
逐句解 Line by line
當日鎮元大仙得元始天尊的簡帖，邀他到上清天彌羅宮中聽講「混元道果」。
当日镇元大仙得元始天尊的简帖，邀他到上清天弥罗宫中听讲「混元道果」。
That day the Great Immortal Zhenyuan received a note from the Primordial Heavenly Worthy, bidding him to the Miluo Palace in the Heaven of Highest Clarity to hear the exposition of the “Fruit of the Undifferentiated Way.”
元始天尊 (Yuánshǐ Tiānzūn) = the Primordial Heavenly Worthy, foremost of the Three Pure Ones. 彌羅宮 (Míluó Gōng) = the Miluo Palace; 混元道果 (hùnyuán dào guǒ) = the ‘fruit of primal undifferentiation,’ a Daoist doctrine-title. 得 (dé) ‘received.’
大仙門下出的散仙，也不計其數，見如今還有四十八個徒弟，都是得道的全真。
大仙门下出的散仙，也不计其数，见如今还有四十八个徒弟，都是得道的全真。
The lesser immortals who had gone forth from the Great Immortal’s gate were past all counting; and even now he had eight-and-forty disciples, every one a Perfected One who had attained the Way.
散仙 (sǎnxiān) = free / unranked immortals; 全真 (quánzhēn) = ‘Complete-Reality’ adepts, the Perfected. 得道 (dé dào) ‘to attain the Way,’ 得 (dé).
當日帶領四十六個上界去聽講，留下兩個絕小的看家：一個喚做清風，一個喚做明月。
当日带领四十六个上界去听讲，留下两个绝小的看家：一个唤做清风，一个唤做明月。
That day he took forty-six of them up to the higher realms to hear the lecture, and left the two youngest behind to keep the house — one named Pure-Wind, one named Bright-Moon.
清風 (Qīngfēng) (Pure-Wind) and 明月 (Míngyuè) (Bright-Moon), the two boy-acolytes; 看家 (kān jiā) = to mind the house.
清風只有一千三百二十歲，明月才交一千二百歲。
清风只有一千三百二十岁，明月才交一千二百岁。
Pure-Wind was but one thousand three hundred and twenty years old; Bright-Moon had only just turned one thousand two hundred.
才交 (cái jiāo) = had only just reached (an age). The comic scale: the ‘youngest’ pair are each over a millennium old.
鎮元子吩咐二童道：「不可違了大天尊的簡帖，要往彌羅宮聽講，你兩個在家仔細。
镇元子吩咐二童道：「不可违了大天尊的简帖，要往弥罗宫听讲，你两个在家仔细。
Master Zhenyuan charged the two boys, saying, “The Great Heavenly Worthy’s summons must not be crossed; I must go to the Miluo Palace to hear the lecture. You two, keep careful watch at home.
鎮元子 (Zhènyuán Zǐ), honorific 子 (zǐ) ‘Master.’ 違了 (wéi le) = to disobey; 仔細 (zǐxì) = be careful, on your guard.
不日有一個故人從此經過，卻莫怠慢了他。
不日有一个故人从此经过，却莫怠慢了他。
Before many days an old friend will pass this way — see you do not slight him.
故人 (gùrén) = an old acquaintance; 怠慢 (dàimàn) = to treat with neglect; 了 (le) completive.
可將我人參果打兩個與他吃，權表舊日之情。」
可将我人参果打两个与他吃，权表旧日之情。」
You may knock down two of my ginseng-fruits for him to eat, as a token of the regard of former days.”
打兩個 (dǎ liǎng gè) = to knock two down (from the tree); 人參果 (rénshēn guǒ), 參 (shēn); 將 (jiāng) marks disposal; 權表 (quán biǎo) = to serve provisionally as a token.
總評 Commentary
The Immortal Zhènyuán is now drawn in full. Summoned by 元始天尊 — the supreme deity of the Daoist pantheon — to hear the highest doctrine, and master of immortals ‘past all counting’ and eight-and-forty Perfected disciples, he stands above the sky-gods and even, by implication, the buddhas the pilgrims have so far met; the novel will shortly name him 地仙之祖, Patriarch of the Earthly Immortals.
Comedy undercuts the grandeur: the ‘two youngest’ left to house-sit are 1,320 and 1,200 years old. His charge to them — serve the coming 故人 exactly two ginseng-fruits, as a token of old friendship — installs the plot’s mechanism and its first constraint, the limit of two, which the boys will keep and the pilgrims’ servants will not.
The passage is dense with Daoist vocabulary (混元道果, 全真, 散仙) and turns the marvellous fruit-tree of the previous scene into a currency of friendship. Readings of note: the honorific 子 = zǐ in 鎮元子, the corrected 仔細 = zǐxì, and 參 = shēn.